insight & evidence
An analysis of public service employment trends: 2010-23 By Peter Nicholson Since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister in 2015 almost 100 thousand (net) new employees have been added to the federal public service, an increase of nearly 40% in eight years. The growth in 2023 alone numbered some 21,000 or 6.3%.[1] The significant increase has begun to attract media attention, notably a recent...
By Peter Nicholson Canada’s economy has a growth problem, and the country is finally starting to notice. As Andrew Coyne recently pointed out, Canada is no longer one of the richest countries on earth. Emphasis was added by the Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor, Carolyn Rogers, who stated in a March 26th speech that Canada’s continuing stagnant productivity growth has become an...
By Dr. Peter Nicholson – Opening Statement 5 February 2024 Let me begin by thanking the Committee for providing this forum to address the potential for massive offshore renewable energy development off our Atlantic coast, a scale of opportunity that has been greatly underestimated. Realization of the opportunity will depend on many factors, but one essential precondition is an appropriate...
By Peter Nicholson George Monbiot, writing in the Guardian, argues for a broader and deeper analysis of the Trump phenomenon, positing that Trump voters possess an “extrinsic” value set, while Biden voters are more likely to express “intrinsic” values.[1] Monbiot is right that Trump represents the epitome of extrinsic values and thus may be powerfully attractive to those of a similar values...
How Atlantic Canada Can Become an Energy Superpower By Peter Nicholson for public policy forum INTRODUCTION Less than 200 kilometres off the coast of Nova Scotia lies the fabled Sable Island, known to generations of seafarers as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, a testament to the countless ships that foundered on its shallow, sandy reefs. Famous for its unique herd of feral horses that have...
Lessons for Canada from Nova Scotia’s Experience by Bernie Miller Introduction: Volkswagen and Canada’s Ambition for Leadership in the Green Economy Imagine it is late 2027 and the Volkswagen plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, funded with a $16B federal subsidy, is ready to go into production. There is a grand ceremony. Dr. Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG addresses...
By Bernie Miller Economics and public policy have lacked a unifying, people focused objective. Committing to an overriding objective of promoting opportunities for the well-being of all citizens could be our best economic development policy. This paper is intended to assimilate and generate knowledge about new ways of approaching the question of how to achieve inclusive economic growth and...
Place Based Economic Policy By Bernie Miller Developing economic policy for a region has traditionally tended to follow political, jurisdictional boundaries. Therefore, there was always a Nova Scotia economic development policy – one size fits all. If positive GDP growth were achieved overall, it would be deemed a success. More frequently, if it resulted in low overall growth, a failure. To the...
What the Data Tell Us By Peter Nicholson This document presents a statistical portrait of the pre-pandemic state of health care in Canada. The data are placed both in an international comparative context and also disaggregated by province.[1] The portrait is focussed on 2019 and the years immediately preceding, owing partly to the latest data that is available, and partly to avoid the exceptional...
Achieving Well Being through Convergence, Collective Action and Collective Impact by Bernie Miller The 40 years prior to the pandemic was far from a “golden age of shared prosperity in North America” and it was more like the “Gilded Age” of the late 19th Century. In March 2020, when COVID-19 changed lives across the globe, Nova Scotia – and many other societies — were faced with puzzles...
insight & evidence